During the course of a year, the homes we live in, the stores we shop at and the businesses we frequent undergo changes - some monumental, while others are so discreet they are barely discernable until suddenly, one day, we realize the aggregate of them has made an impact indeed.

The idea that the measurement, acknowledgement and, in some cases, recognition of these changes was something worth recording prompted The Courier's original "Progress" section years ago.

In today's Courier, you will find the first installment of Progress 2008: The Future is Now, with additional installments to appear each Sunday throughout October.

To be honest, we had a bit of difficulty in choosing a title for this year's section in light of the barrage of negative economic news both our families and yours have struggled to interpret during the last weeks and months. But, as Courier reporter Adam Franks' story on today's front page explores, much of the nation's economic trouble is focused in larger cities, while our area has, so far, been largely insulated from the brunt of it.

Not too many communities have two new retail developments and a convention center and hotel on their drawing boards, and it is success stories like these we hope to highlight as the month progresses. We hope you enjoy reading this bit of good news.

The other thing we hope you'll notice about this year's Progress section is that it is smaller than the rest of the newspaper.

This isn't a mistake, but rather a preview of what's to come. All of our products will be converted to this smaller size beginning Oct. 14, so we chose this venue, appropriately, to show you an example of the progress we're making here at The Courier. We promise this change will not make the typeface smaller. In fact, we are looking at other typefaces that will make reading your Courier easier.

We know this may look odd and take some getting used to, but we think you'll like the change.

So settle in, enjoy the stories and information we have for you today, and please do take a look at our - and your - Progress, wherein, quite literally, the future is now.